This porter pours a gorgeous reddish-brown color topped with a big, robust head of khaki foam. In the aroma department, there are some impressions of sweetness along with abundant notes of toasted bread and caramel, with a light roasty tone. We picked up a spicy hint through the center of it all, along with a light undercurrent of dark fruit, and some zesty hop notes. On the palate, expect a very approachable interpretation of a porter that’s...

Butte Creek’s pils pours a golden straw color with a cap of crisp white foam that laces in sheets as it recedes. From the looks alone we can tell Butte Creek has drawn inspiration from German pilsners, which tend to be somewhat lighter than their Czech brethren. On the nose, pale malts deliver a touch of breadiness that forms the base on which to lay the hops. The Wakatu and Sterling hops, which are varietals descendant from the noble ...

On the pour, expect a fair amount of carbonation as this pale ale builds a big, persistent, fluffy cap of white foam overtop a lightly hazy golden hue. We loved the aroma on this one – it’s chocked full of inviting, juicy hop notes reminiscent of both citrus and tropical fruit, with more than a bit of floral character thrown in for good measure. Look for the hops to be front and center on the palate, too. This isn’t built as an IPA...

Beaver Tail presents nicely in the glass, boasting a rich mahogany color with amber highlights and a robust cap of foam. Caramelized malt undertones offer more than a little toasty bread in the aroma, while a very aromatic array of hops delivers citrus notes which lean toward tangerine and grapefruit, along with a touch of herbal pine. The Falconer’s Flight hops used for both the boil and dry-hopping are not a single varietal; they’re actually...

Pouring a crystal-clear, rich golden color, topped by a big, billowing head of bright white foam, Staropilsen certainly looks like what we expect from an authentic Czech pils. Notice how the color is a shade deeper than many German pilsners – this is also a characteristic of the classic Czech version of the style. On the nose, this brew delivers a clean, lightly spicy and earthy hop aroma which overlays a noticeable malt character of crackers...

When you pour this beer you’ll see we ain’t lyin’ – this is one black beer. But Xingu is not to be confused with the German style of black beer known as Schwarzbier; this is an entirely different species and is quite unusual. On the nose, there are not the big roasty notes one expects from such a dark brew. Instead there’s an impressive complexity including sweetness akin to treacle (which is like a heavy, almost medicinal molasses), notes of ani...

A brief primer: this is a Russian-style imperial stout that’s been conditioned with whole-bean Peace Coffee. (Hence the name, and a hat tip to Tolstoy.) More specifically: dark roast, local, delicious, nicely integrated, Minneapolis-made coffee. The brewery explains: “Like Tolstoy’s masterpiece, it may take some time to finish, and require some thought along the way.” The core of this isn’t letting any light through—pouring dark chocolate...

Without giving away the ending, we’ll say this: this is unlike any bock we’ve tasted before. We poured tastes of this into Pinot-appropriate stemware, producing just a great-looking glass: deep caramel-brown tones, dark cola, with really nicely rendered foam. Big headed, small bubbled, and lots of impressive retention and lacing that was almost like icing. One could pretty much guarantee from appearance that, at the least, this would be interesting.